The defiance was clear as Sebastian Vettel blatantly ignored team orders at the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix last month and passed teammate, Mark Webber, to win the race.  As the race was unfolding, Team Principal, Christian Horner, and his other team managers, understood the big picture dynamics in the race, had a celar vision of their goal and strategy to get there, and made the best decision to assure a one, two finish for the Red Bull team.  With Mark Webber leading and Sebastian Vettel in the second position, both drivers were instructed to hold station to the end of the race.  Vettel, in essence, told them to fuck off and passed his teammate for the win.

Formula One may not be your thing, but as a former race driver, hardcore motorsports fan, and startup CEO, I found it hard not to cheer for Vettel and his ‘win at all costs’ determination.  However, as a startup CEO, a big part of me immediately associated with Christian Horner, the team principle at Red Bull Racing, as I waited to see how he would handle the painfully public, and globally recognized rebuke to his leadership.

Following the race, Vettel spewed his selfish rhetoric and exclaimed he would do the same thing again given the same circumstances, along with many other disrespectful and selfish claims as a driver.  As far as punishment goes, there was none from Horner, or the team leadership.

Let me be as clear as I possibly can here:  I would have fired Sebastian Vettel.  You could argue for a somewhat less harsh penalty, as is usually the case when someone with percieved value to a team crosses acceptable behaviors, but as CEO, I would have overruled you and terminated him.

Yes, he is arguably one of the best drivers in the world, and he wins races.  However, he has clearly forgotten that the reason he has the chance to win races is because he has been provided with one of the best cars in the series for the past three years as a direct result of the team.  And the people that provided that car were hired, organized and led by Christian Horner, Team Principal.  He is the boss.  It is his job to create a business that drives long-term value for his investors, his employees and himself.  He has to be the one that everyone looks towards to drive strategy and direction; to bring on more investors and keep the business moving forward.  The team, the investors, and the drivers, must respect and believe in him. 

At that race in Malaysia, Christian Horner lost his value as a leader.  Instantly, the driver became more important that the CEO.  The driver was rewarded (by not being punished harshly) for ignoring the team decisions for his own gain.  Who will the key team members and sponsors follow now?  What will happen the next time Vettel and Horner disagree?

I’ve seen this happen at startups many times.  A ‘rock star’ (I hate that expression) developer overrules the team to build it the way he or she wants despite what the rest of the team believes.  That kick-ass sales person cuts a killer deal to ramp revenue but ignores the company direction or team process to get it done.  There is clear short-term benefit to the business.  But the cancer has started and by ignoring it, it will continue to spread and destroy any longer-term potential the company has.

In these and many other situations, the CEO needs to lead.  They need to immediately understand the threat to the organization that either of these, and many other similar scenarios pose, and take immediate action to secure the longer-term health of the company. There is no easier way to destroy a culture, increase turnover significantly and mitigate the value of the CEO, than to allow this type of behavior.  Any CEO who puts his or her fortunes in the hands of one person over the health and productivity of the team, will live and die by the whims of that person.   

Building the right culture at your startup is a major success factor to long term value.  Understanding that what gets rewarded gets repeated, moving quickly to reward the behaviors needed to build long-term value, and immediately eliminating behaviors that can destroy an organization is never easy.  But it is critical.

It will be interesting to watch the Red Bull Formula One team over the next few races.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some major changes announced shortly.  And if I were Christian Horner, I would be looking over my shoulder to see what’s coming.